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QR codes paying off for Domex Superfresh

More businesses are banking on smart shoppers using smartphones to help them make smart purchases and Domex Superfresh Growers is finding out why less than a month after launching cherry packaging with quick-response codes.

The Yakima, Wash., grower shipper of apples and stone fruits introduced the QR code labels on their 2-pound cherry bags and clamshells in early July. In the first three weeks the company logged more than 2,000 hits on its mobile website: m.superfreshgrowers.com.

“Our highest numbers of hits have come from the Far East by a significant percentage followed by the Pacific Northwest, Canada and the West Coast of the U.S.,” said Loren Queen, marketing and communications manager.

“We will be adding video content in the next couple of weeks. We think this is a great way to connect the growers to the consumers and vice versa. This is becoming a critical way of communicating with consumers. We plan to have interviews with growers so consumers can see that the growers are real people.”

Queen said he believes QR codes can be particularly helpful to the fresh produce industry in addressing consumer questions and desires related to “local” foods.

“We think it’s more about the locale than local,” Queen said July 27. “People want to know where their food is coming from and who is growing it. The QR codes make it possible for us to give them that information while they are shopping.”

Domex Superfresh already added QR codes to their 5-pound bags of apples and the company is currently redesigning its 3-pound apple bags to include the codes. The Domex Superfresh organic lines already have the codes.

“They’ll be on all of our packaging as we move forward with new designs in the next six months or so,” Queen said.

The codes are the next generation of bar codes, but instead of straight lines of varying widths they have two-dimensional designs with intersecting lines. The codes can be scanned with the camera lens of a smartphone and then through the use of downloaded applications direct consumers to websites, coupons, videos, nutritional information and virtually any other material the code owner desires.

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About the Author:

Coral Beach, Staff Writer

Coral Beach joined The Packer newsroom in February 2011, bringing more than 30 years of experience at daily newspapers, trade magazines and online publications. Beach earned a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Kansas School of Journalism in 1982.
e-mail: cbeach@thepacker.com
phone: 913-438-0781